Sunday, October 14, 2012

Happy Patties

See? Happy!

Happy Patties are probably my favorite "burger" to eat, and I've been making variations on them for at least 20 years--no exaggeration. Their texture is sorta hard to explain, but they're soft and firm (not meaty or beefy), and they taste delicious on a bun with all the fixin's, or plain just by themselves. I was missing them the other night, so I ran them through the ol' de-glutenizer, and came up with something that tastes just like the original.

I usually season them following the guidelines from Marilyn Diamond's original recipe, but since they've a neutral taste, you could easily season them with any flavor combo you wanted. I think chipotle would be extra good.

These were made with onion, garlic, beet greens and carrot.

We ate ours on buns from Laurie Sadowski's Allergy-Free Chef Bakes Bread (review upcoming), but the buns were so good, they disappeared before the sun had a chance to help me photograph 'em. You'll have to take my word for it, or wait for the next go-round (which is not long coming).

Happy Patties are also really good for holiday meals. They go just right with gravy and lots of sides, especially if you're looking for a transportable protein option, and while I haven't tested these on kids myself, they seem like they'd go over very well with the littles.

Happy Patties

Makes 8 patties

Adapted from The American Vegetarian Cookbook by Marilyn Diamond. To make with AP flour, use 1/2 cup and omit the sorghum and arrowroot.What You Need:

14 oz block firm tofu, rinsed

1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups slivered spinach or beet greens

1 cup medium carrot, coarsely grated

1/2 cup sorghum flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot flour

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium skillet over medium high heat, saute the onion, garlic and salt together in the olive oil until just soft. Add in the greens and carrot and cook for 4-5 minutes, until tender.

Remove from heat and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, cream the tofu. Add the flours, nooch, tamari, baking powder and poultry seasoning, and process until smooth.

Add the sautéed vegetables and pulse about five times to break up the vegetables, but be sure to keep the mixture a little chunky.

Season to taste with more salt and pepper, then spoon 1/3 cup dollops onto prepared baking sheet. With wet hands, flatten to 1/3" patties, and shape into neat rounds, keeping at least an inch of space between patties.

Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each patty with a spatula and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Happy Patties may be consumed while grumpy or even pissed off without affecting flavor.
xo
kittee This blog, has joined with over 600 others, to celebrate Vegan MoFo - The Vegan Month of Food. Learn more about MoFo by visiting Vegan Mofo Headquarters.

Mmmmm. For laughs sometime you might add 1/4 cup toor dal to the saute. They will still be a bit firm when the patty is done, but I like the texture they add to a "burger". You could even add some curry leaves and make a south indian themed variation. I love beet greens with the south indian flavoring treatment. Your blog and zine continue to inspire and make me hungry every time I come to visit! Thanks!

I have all of this stuff! Except for the fancy flours, but I know where I can get 'em. I wanna make these! Any idea how well they freeze? I bet they'd freeze super good. I want to try and see if I can't make these with my bestie Jessica next time we do one of her big cooking days.

Is the olive oil just for sauteeing or does it get mixed in? Any suggestions for poultry seasoning substitute? I tend to go the Indian spice route, but will need to buy the ingredients for poultry seasoning. I miss buying bulk spices in Berkeley and SF (apparently it just isn't done in NJ...)!

Poultry seasoning is a finely ground spice mixture--a powder really containing different blends of oregano, rosemary, sage and sometimes other things. If you were going the individual spice route, I'd add in a little powdered sage, rosemary, garlic and onion powder. Really, you could do these however you want.

I think they'd also be good with a bit of ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, chopped cilantro and fresh ginger.